Three orange heads sat in the large, fancy bedroom at the very end of the hall. Lafontaine was hunched over their desk, scribbling away on charts, diagrams, blueprints, graphs and more. Perry was fretfully scrubbing every inch of the room, even though it was already spotless and sterile. Danny was reclining on the master bed, a tired expression on her face as she tossed pencils at the dart board hanging opposite to the bed.
"You know, I really wish you wouldn't do that, you know?" Perry muttered as she continued to obsessively scrub the room, so tense that she didn't realize she'd said "you know?" twice. She shot a glare at the bored and unhappy Danny, who was still throwing pencil darts.
"Oh, who cares? I know you'll fix it eventually anyway," she sighed. It was an unusually callous remark from a girl who was one of the most selfless, protective and caring students on campus, but even the best of people could have the worst of days. Danny continued to throw the pencils, ignoring the scowl Perry was still giving her.
Perry opened her mouth to complain, but before she could say a word, Lafontaine cut her off.
"Ok, guys, come on. Let's not fight. We've got too much else to worry about already. Last thing we need is a civil war."
Even though Perry looked rather annoyed at being interrupted, she couldn't deny that Lafontaine was right. With Silas in the middle of an uprising, more conflict was the last thing anyone wanted or needed. Things were tense enough already with so many factions joining the war!
And for the three gingers in particular, there were extra restrictions. Since Perry and Laf had fled the school earlier that year (Carmilla and Laura in tow), all four of them were considered enemies of the school. As such, they'd been forced to hole up in the dean's old apartment, and it was no longer safe for any of them to leave. Danny was still able to come and go, but that was only because she was a member of the Summer Society, and they needed her for the campus battles.
So Danny did double duty, working "part time" as a Summer Sister Soldier and "part time" aiding Laura, Carmilla, Perry and Laf. At the same time, Laf struggled to keep everyone together and focused, while also trying to research a solution to all of their many problems. And Perry was struggling to keep her own head, battling personal insecurities, strange blackouts, and germ infestations in the apartment. All three of the gingers were working themselves to the bone, fighting battles on multiple fronts.
"Would you look at us?" Danny finally asked, voice hollow and bitter. "Three gay gingers, all of us absolutely miserable. I'm starting to grow sick of the color orange…" She hurled one pencil with extra ferocity and it sailed right through its target, piercing the wall on the other side. Perry pursed her lips, but said nothing. Instead, she only continued to scrub the already-spotless floor.
"Even my pencil darts are orange," Danny complained, starting to sound a bit unhinged. "Even the walls are starting to look orange!" They were actually a deep red with gold patterns, but in certain lights, Laf and Perry could see where Danny was coming from.
"I thought orange was supposed to be a happy color," Laf agreed with a dry smile, joining in on Danny's weird little rant.
"Maybe for you all, but I'm sick of it!" Danny grunted, finally hopping up from the bed. Everywhere she looked was orange. Their hair, the walls, even the Summer Society was sort of orange (well, technically, it was bronze and gold, but…)
Everything was orange. Too much orange! And how many fires had broken out midbattle? Too many. Not only was half the campus literally in ruins, but the fires that seemed to burn nonstop constantly scorched the earth and sky a bright orange. And Danny was sick of looking at it! Impatient, she finally exited the room, leaving Perry and Laf behind.
Laf was quick to dip their orange-haired head back down, still pouring over ancient texts. Perry, meanwhile, hopped up from the floor, orange hair shining in the light as she raced over to yank all of the orange pencils out of the wall of the dean's room.
"No good, Summers!" she muttered under her breath.
Danny strode down the hall, reaching the end in only three strides because of how long her legs were. Carmilla and Laura were arguing in the foyer again, but it brought Danny no pleasure to see. Instead, it only made her feel ill. She just wanted this constant and endless cycle of pain and war to end! She didn't even want Carmilla and Laura fighting anymore, that's how sick of it she was!
She raced across campus, trying to keep herself centered. At least she had the option to run. The other two Gay Gingers (plus Carmilla and Laura) had to remain hidden in the apartment.
But the outside brought no respite for Danny today, because she had chosen to leave the house at a bad time: sunset. And so, the first thing that met Danny's eyes after she had slammed the dean's door shut again was a sky full of orange, bright and endless and cruel. In the distance, battle cries were being shouted, and more orange flew across campus: flames and arrows and weapons and armor, all a shade of orange, gleaming under the mercilessly orange sun. That one giant orange eye in the sky, its fearsome glare burning everything in its path, including Danny. Was there no escape? There didn't seem to be…
AN: Sorry for the angst. It's set in S2 of the Carmilla webseries. That was probably the most emotionally draining thing in the entire Carmilla franchise, S2 of the webseries. But anyway, despite the angst, I hope you enjoyed it!